7/11-13 -- Kafue National Park

We returned to Kasane this morning, took a bus to the Botswana border and crossed by boat into Zambia, at a point where 4 nations meet -- Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe on one side of the river and Zambia on the other side. From there, we drove to Livingston and caught a small plane to Kafue and the camp, about 10 minutes from the airstrip. It is located right on the Kafue river and some of our excursions will be in boats. To get started, we took a night drive for about an hour, and found a few elephants and hippo and small impala herds. We also saw a rabbit and glimpsed a jackal running down the road away from us. So far I am not a fan of the night drives and may pass on further opportunities. Even if we do spot something, trying to get a photo is an exercise in futility.

Puku - an antelope only found in this area

7/12 -- Our morning drive started out as a leopard hunt because the guides spotted tracks from a mother and small leopard cub. Unfortunately, we didn't find it after an hour of searching and starting concentrating on other options. We saw several kinds of antelope and birds, winding around woods, savannah, and riverside.

Swallow?

Mahogany pod and seeds

Bateleur?

Baboons with baby

Brown hooded kingfisher

Candelabra tree -- used to kill fish and poison
arrows. Smoke from the burning wood contacting
food causes diarrhea.

Egyptian goose

Grey heron and Egyptian goose

Sausage Tree -- note oblong thingys on both sides

African Openbill

Vervet Monkey

We also had our first encounter with tsetse flies. They are attracted to black and dark blue, which we avoided bringing with us, but our dark khakis seemed to be interesting too. They are quite small -- maybe half the size of a house fly -- and have a painful bite -- even through clothing. I had on so many layers, it was doubtful that they could get through, and there were not many of them. As a precaution, Brian, our guide today, lighted up a chunk of elephant dung at the front the truck, which is supposed to keep them away. I had removed the scarf over my face since it had warmed up some, but immediately replaced it to cut the aroma. The good news is that these flies rarely cause sleeping sickness anymore.

We saw a couple crocodiles in the river and sunning along a beach near our morning snack stop. Once there, we got a better view of the crocodiles and hippos in the water as well as a couple birds. When we left, our guide repositioned us to let us see a huge crocodile near our stop, then moved again to see him from another side. We noticed four hippos leaving the water to sun in an area where an crocodile was resting on the beach and watched in amazement as the first two out of the water chased the crocodile off. Then the big crocodile in front of us turned to provide a nice profile for our cameras. Shortly after that, we found a mama hippo standing guard over a sleeping young one. She turned around an saw an crocodile near their resting spot. As soon as she took a step or two toward him, he scuttled off to the river. Just to the right of those two was a large monitor lizard -- at least 3 feet long.

Nile Crocodiles

Step 1 - hippos exit on crocodile beach

Step 2 - hippos nudge crocodile nearer the water

Step 3 - Hippos continue pressure

Step 4 -- hippos convince crocodile that the water is FINE

Helmeted Guinea fowl

Monitor lizard

There are a lot of palms  here, reputedly planted by Arabs trading in the area  in the 1700 and 1800s, hoping to use them as a trail home. Unhappily for them, elephants ate the fruit and planted more wherever they wandered and pooped out the seeds. In addition to the Big Five and the Little Five, Brian said there is also a Green Five and pointed out the leopard orchid, which grows along the palm tree trunks. When they bloom, the flowers are spotted, like a leopard's skin.

Leopard Orchid clings to palm trunk

After lunch and relaxation, we learned about the history of Zambia, which earned its independence from Britain in 1964. After 27 years of the same president, they started to get on track, and two reformer presidents died in office. Their current president is apparently buddies with Robert Mugabe and is running for office in his own right. Corruption has become a serious problem again. The election in August 11.

Our afternoon game drive focused on water birds and animals. At one stop, we saw a tremendous variety of birds plus a variant of waterbuck with a light colored solid patch on his rump instead of the circular line we are used to. We even saw a pair of cranes and were fortunate to see elements of their mating dance. We finally ended up at an old quarry with a bunch of holes in the rock face, which Brian said is the home of the bee-eaters we had seen a couple days ago. We had a sundown toast and headed back to camp looking for nocturnal animals, but they were not cooperative.

Green backed herons?

Cranes

Cranes

Cranes

Green-back heron and Red-billed stork

Hornbill

Egyptian goose

Waterbuck and stork

Bee-eater homes

7/13 -- Our day started with an enthusiastic rendition of Happy Birthday to me, followed by dancing, which I joined. After a light breakfast, we boarded a pontoon boat and set off down the Lufupa River. We saw a ton of birds: egret, cormorant, African darter (Snake Bird), 3 kinds of kingfisher, bee-eaters, bulbuls, a swallow, water thick-knee, jacana (Jesus Birds), and a crake. We saw hippos, including a couple yawning (I wasn't fast enough to get a photo), crocodiles, monitor lizards, terrapin, and a lone puku.

What a way to start my day!

Storks?

Hippos

African Darter

Kingfisher

African Darter

Swallow??

Brown-hooded kingfisher

Monitor Lizard

Bee-eaters

Crake

Egret

Darter taking off

Bee-eater

Malachite Kingfisher -- very small and very quick.  I am lucky
to have even this photo

Hippo

Snipe?

Giant Kingfisher

Terrapin

After lunch, Sammie talked about our transfer to Zimbabwe tomorrow and some of the difficulties that country is facing. We were also warned not to initiate discussions on overtly political topics and expect answers once we are there because there are so many 'watchers' looking for people who are not enthusiastic about the government. Apparently, there are demonstrations in the cities and a general state of unrest toward the government which they are trying to put down.

After a break, we had a interesting discussion on Zambian culture, including showing respect for elders, appropriate attire for women, and some marriage customs. Shaking hands is customary, but the left hand must also be visible, supporting the right elbow. An elder is anyone 6  months or more older than you and you show deference by always being below the level of their head when talking to them. There is a garment called a chitangi which is worn by both men and women but has many  more uses for women. If you are working, bending over, and wearing a short skirt, a chitangi is worn like a sarong to protect your decency. Unmarried women wear them on their hips. Married women wear them higher, under the bust line. They can also be used to tie a baby to your back to allow you to work with both hands, to cover your head (like the Aunt Jemima icon) and to signal widowhood by being folded and tied around the head with the top of the head visible. They can also be wound into a small circle and placed on your  head to facilitate carrying things there. Men primarily wear them across one shoulder, covering the left arm and tied at the heart.

When a woman approaches puberty, she is given her first chitangi and spends two to three weeks with village women learning how to be an appropriate adult. Open dating is not allowed, but subterfuge is used to arrange to just happen to arrive at the location of your boy or girl friend. If an unmarried couple is found together in a closed room, the man must pay a damage fee regardless of what type of activity was taking place. Parents do not talk to their children about sex. That is left to other relatives, like aunts, uncles, and grandparents. A bride price must be paid to marry, but it is not paid in its entirety unless the wife to be dies, in which case it becomes immediately payable.

Before we could get to the polygamy talk, we were whisked away for our afternoon boat ride for more bird spotting.

As we backed out into the river, we saw two elephants near our tent. One had just finished his swim across the river and was climbing out within 30 feet of the tent, and the other had been there, munching on the vegetation between our tent and the next on. On the cruise, we saw several more of the same varieties we had seen earlier and got some good photos.

That's our tent in the background.....

Green-backed heron

Water gets high and the tree roots are more
sideways than deep

African Fish Eagle with catch

The day ended with dinner and entertainment from the camp crew, followed by our pathetic attempts at singing. Our rendition of Happy Trails was especially sad, being sung in at least 3 different keys at once.